Emergency valve



W. N. GLAB EMERGENCY VALVE Aug. 29, 1933.

Filed NOV. 27, 1931 '39 or wire at the pointfwnereeirpasses throughPatented ug. 29, 1.933

f @UNITED STA e 1,924,356 EMERGENCY VALVE William N. (Bilal),r Dubuque,Iowa, assignor to Morrison Bros.,` Dubuque, Iowa, a corporation of, Iowav Application November 21, 1931V 'Serial N0. 577,507

. zciaims., (ci. 13m-162.)

This invention relates in general to valves and moreparticularly tovalves of the safety or emergency type, and although I'nyinventi'onissusceptible of many and various uses as will be evident to one skilledin the` art, it has been found to be essentially `adapted to-preventserif ous accidents resulting from lires and explosions in tanks thatare used for the bulk storage Vof inflammableA liquids such as oilandthe like,

It is desirable in the case of valves for" this purpose tohave the valveelements `Within the tank and so arranged` that the valve vvill closeautomatically upon the occurrence offa predetermined condition outsidethe tank,;and cut off the possibility of oilescaping through thetankoutlet. For example, in the past it has been` the usual practice inorderto attainV this end to install a gravityor spring closed valveAWithinthe tank, this valve vbeing normally held inopen position bymeansV of a Wire, cable or system of rods which are carried through `thetank. to the outside, where ,connection is made tosoinez'orm.

of thermal responsive `devi ce such Aas a fusible In the case ofre, thislinkismelted and] permits the :valve torclose. y Y L 4,Since these tankscontain a volatile liquid, itV

is Vnecessary infarrangements of thecharacter just :described inorden'to prevent theescape of vapors 'to provide-astma box for the rodthe tank, and in thecase. of `thevvire, suitable guide pulleysareprovided toenahle vcarrying the wire to a convenient. point outsidefthe,tank. These'arrangementshave been found. to be objectionablein that! thepresent. vventing arrangements are `inefficient', When there are holesor openings through the tankfai conditionwhichf may result by virtue o!the stu'ing glandb'ein'g too loose. Moreover, the glandl istightenedsufficiently to Vprevent escapeof the liquid-v` vapors, the propervoperation of the valve 'within the tank becomesproblematical.Obviouslygfthe operation of an emergency device mu'stjbeydependable andreliance upon a device whichmight `or might not function would bedisastrous." Y

` The internally installed` valves are furtherob- Vjectionable fromtheA` standpoint of` installation and repair. 'Where thesevalves areto"be in,-

stalled inan existing `tank orwhere repairs are.

to be made to an' installed valve, the persondoing the work mustnecessarily .Igetfnside the Vtank and in the case of ajnevlinstallation. must go to lthe expenseandtrouble (ofv installing fthefvarkiegigendi the. ivlgfzthiink Win# Yoperating 'rnechanisn1.V l

Itis afurther object of this. invention to proin previousistallatonsha's been securedwithin the' tank to the nnerendv of thisnipple and a'pipe connection`made tothe outer end'of the nipple. j Itvlhas been found in. installati'onsfof` this nature'` that should toog'reatf'a` mechanical .load `be placed on thisnipple, there is danger'of stripping the threads. with the result that there will belossvofoil, the's'tripping ofy the threads in no way affecting the operation ofthe valve.

To overcome these and other .objections to the .present typev of valve.andV the manner which the same is mounted, it. is a primary object' of'this invention Vto p'rovi'de a valvefthatmay beinstalled in anexistingtank withoutffthenecessity of havingto'I enter the `inside of.thetankf'and Tes PATEN'IA o1-"Flon which is secured tov the tank. The,valve proper'V which does notI necessitate the use. of a stuiingbox orthe` like in the tank to `aceom'rnoclate the e valve vide an improvedVvalve 'of the character described Which may bef installed from theoutside .of theltank, andinfw'hich the rneans'fr operating the.valvefisoutside of .the tank and'v does natthave `to pas'sjthrou'gh a.stuil'ugboxY or` the f llike inrA the tank, :which Wouldn interfere.With the .proper. operation ofthe tank `venting system..v

Another' obj ect of the;4 present jinvention is Vto provideuanimproved"valveL o. they character described which A is so designed Ithatshouldl an excessive' mechanicalgload be applied to. the piping f system`Where `it leavesthe tank, the valveV Vviii-1l .be closed to prevent"discharge of liquid fromthe n Y tank, and.theconstructionA of the valveis such that the 11ammty Vof(stripping# .the threads. ofi the valveconnection Ato. .the "tank willY reduced'v to a'minimum. Y y

" Inl accordance withthegeneralfeaturesof invention, it is proposedtoprovideavalve cas?.

ing having` a" threaded portion. intermediate lits end. so that when..the valve. is mourterlV in the onev endr of .they casing' will be.disposed .on

.the insidefcnf the, tank and .the other. end outside ofthe tank. Theiimerendl off'the` casingfhuses i 'r'.uevavemembr andante van@ meer,.1.19

Y ber is not positive.

valve operating mechanism. Y

The valve operating mechanism is held in such position as to maintainthe valve in open position by means of a thermal responsive member whichmay comprise a wire or cable havingY a fusible link therein, The wireand cable having the fusible link are disposed wholly outside ofthetank, thereby making it unnecessary to carry the cable over pulleys orthe like and through a stufng box in order to connect the cable to thevalve as would be the case where the valve is wholly installed withinthe tank. Y A further feature of the invention resides in the manner inwhichv excessive mechanical loads are taken care of when applied to thevalve. For this purpose the valve casing is constructed with a frangibleportion adjacent the outer end of the threaded portion of the casingwhich engages the tank, and the connection'between the operating meansand the valve member is in the nature of a balli and socket jointso'that the connection between the operating means and the valvememr1`hus, when any extraordinary load comes upon the pipe linefrorn'the tank, the body of the valve will break at'the frangibleportion and allow the valve to close, thereby saving a possible loss Vofoil.

Otherobjects and features of this inventionwill more fully appear fromthe following detailed description 'taken in iconnection with` thelaccompanying drawing whichillustrate a single einbodiment thereof, andin which l Figurerl is an 'elevational view showing a valve embodyingthe features of this invention installed in a storage tank;Y l Y Figure2 is an enlargedpfragmentary sectional view through the valve and tankto show the operative relationship between the component parts of thevalve; and l Y Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional view withparts of the operating mechanism in elevation, taken substantially online Ill-III of Figure 2. i p l AsV shown on the drawing: s i Invtheillustrated embodiment ofthis invention, there isshown in' Figure 1, Vaconventional storage tank 10 such'as may be usedfor the bulk storage ofvolatile liquid such as fuel oil'or the like, this tank being providedwith the usual venting device 11 and a pipe connection 12 through whichliquid may be `supplied to the tank or -carried awayfrom the tank. ATheemergency valve, generally indicated by the numeral 13, is

mounted at the entrance ofthepipe 12 to the tank, thevalve'beingsupported in the tank and adapted for pipe connection as Willsubsequently be explained in more detail.V Y

' AAs shown in Figure 2, the valve comprises an elongated hollow casingV14 which is threaded in a flangey member 15 anda side of the'tank, theflange member being welded, riveted or otherv l wise secured to thetank. The inner end of the casing 14 is internally threaded to receive acap member 15 and contains a plurality of openings 16 in the sidesthereof `for enabling fluid to pass l from the tank into the casing. Thecap 15 is provided with a central `aperture 17 which forms "a guide forja valve stem 18. `The capi 15 is counterbored as shown at 19 to receiveone end of a spring 20 which surrounds thestem 18 and bears against anintegrally formed valve member 21 at its other end. The Valve member 21is preferably in the form of a semispherical shell having a seat'- ingsurface 22 which engages a seaty 23gformed by The thermal' responsive`valve member 21 is .asocket 25 for receiving one. end of a'pusher rod26 which is connected to ythe valve operating mechanism. The inner orclosedend of the socket 25 is conically formed as shown at27 and the endof the pusher rod 26 which engages this conical surface is roundedas'shown at 28; It Vwill also be observed that the, vpu'sherrod is ofless diameter than the socket so that 'a universal or ball and socketjoint is `formed between the pusher rod and valve member 21, therebyenabling lateral movement of the pusher rod relative to the valve member21. The other end of the vpusher rod 26 is forked to receive the end of,any arm 29y which is iixedly' secured against vrotation on a shaft30-mounted transversely in the end of the casing which is 'disposedoutsider of the tank. The outer end of the Varm 29 is pivoted to theforked end of the pusher rod'26 by means of a pivot pin 3l.

The shaft 30 is supported for rotation in the casing, one end of theshaft extending into a recess 32 and the other end of the shaft beingsupported in a bearing 'member 33which sur--l the shaft and threadedlyengages the rounds casing. Oil is prevented from leaking along the shaftby a packing 'ring 34 which is pressed against an integrally formedshoulder 35 on the shaft by means of the member'33. Outside-of Y thecasing an arm 36 is., mounted against rotation on the shaft 30, this armbeing connected -to Ya Q thermalresponsive link, which is generallyVindi-V cated at`37. link 37V comprisesv a sectional wire or cable and isconnected atione end to the varm 36- and the other end to the tank .y

as shown at 38. The sections of this wire are connected in end toend-relationship by fusible elements 39 which lare adapted to fuse at apredetermined temperature, therebyenabling the.

ies

40 adjacent the outer end of the thread connecf.

tion of .the casing to the tank, This contracted portion of the casingprovides a` frangible section so that, if, at any time any extraordinaryload is `put upon thefouter end of the valve casing., this rfrangiblesection will breakv and VenableA the valve member ,21 to close, therebypreventing lossof oil or stripping of thethread connection ofthe valveto the tank.

Briefly, the operation of the valve of my invenl-- tion is Vas follows:l

The valveis installed infan opening of afstor-v age tankv 10 as shown inFigure l, and is actuated to open*v position by moving the arm Y36 so.that the pusher rodrv 26 is moved longitudinally to force 'the valve'member 21'. against thepressure'of ,Y spring 20,"this'action moving thevalve'r'nember that there is no positive connection between f the valveand pusher rod when the Varm .'36 is released, the spring 20 will forcethe :valve member 21V` to closed position, .thereby shutting off thesupply of liquid to the pipe 12.

From the, foregoing, it will, bev evident that my invention provides anemergency valve which" may be installed in an existing tank Without thenecessity of having to enter the inside ofthe tank` which does notnecessitate lthe use of a stumng box or the like in the` tank to enableoperation of the valve by the valve operating mechanism; and in whichthe casing is provided with a frangible portion adaptedL to Abreak Iwhenany extraordinaryload'is placed upon the pipe connection to kthe casing;thereby preventing stripping of the thread connection'of the casingtothe tank and permitting the valve to close'and stop the ow of oil. r l

Now,fit is of course to be understoodthat although I have described invdetail the preferred embodiment of my invention, the invention is not tobe thus limited but only insofar as dened by the scopeV and spirit ofthe'appended claims.v

I claim as my invention: 'il Y l. The combination with'a tank having anoutlet pipe extending'therefrom oi' valvemeans in saidpipe including avalve and seat therefor dis `posed within theconnes of the tank', vandactuating element for the valve arranged'to open said valve andprojecting out ofthe contines ofthe tank, said element and valve beingsofa'rranged` that should said pipe break oi at .its 'junction withsaidvtank Asaidvalve will automatically. close I irrespective ofmovement of the actuating 'ele-w ment, and a thermal member disposedexternally of the .tank for controlling the operation ofsaidA element,and position. v v Y Y 2. A valveof the character described comprising an`elongated hollow casing adapted for cone" f n nection at one end toafpipe, a cap' threaded into the other end of the casing, said caphavingva..

normally holding the valve in open plurality of apertures terminating at"oneendinV '1 a counter-bored portionvof `the cap, a valvei seat. v

Vinthe casing spaced from said cap, saidfcasing i having aside4openingrdisposed between said seat and cap,V a-'valvemember cooperativewith said l seat having a` central stem extending` throughg one of saidapertures,`said valve member being cap, a spring surrounding said stemwith its ends .curved to'dene a recesson theside towards saidv i n f Y vextending into the counter-bored portion ofthe f vcap andthe recess ofthe valvemember respec-` tively, andl means to move the valvememb'ervtoopen position with its outer tedge'abutting thev V l cap, in whichposition the cap'A and valve merri-y ber cooperate to shield `thestemand spring `from interference with the ow `oflriiuidA through the f if1.25m

